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Author: Patricia Chen
Photo source: signing ceremony in FJCU
On September 24th, 2024, Fu Jen Catholic University (FJCU) and Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) signed a collaborative memorandum of understanding (MOU), which focused on the issue of cyber security. The full name of the arrangement was “MOU of Collaborative Cyber Defense.” As its name suggests, the main purpose of the MOU aims to protect personal information from being hacked as well as enhance the information security of both FJCU and FJCU hospital.
The signing ceremony was held at the conference center in Paul Cardinal Shan Medical Building, having Mr. Yi-Zhen Lan, the president of FJCU, and Bai-Li Chen, the chief of MJIB, as the signatories. Besides the signatories, several officials, including the president of FJCU Hospital, deputy director of MJIB, and director of MJIB New Taipei City Precinct, attended the ceremony. By signing the MOU, FJCU should take action to establish a found security system on the Internet for not only the students but also faculty members, and further achieve the fourth goal: quality education, in Sustainable Development Goal (SDG).
What has made this MOU so significant to the school is not only that FJCU is the first university in Taiwan to sign such an agreement on cybersecurity, but the commitment benefits FJCU to reach the fourth goal of SDGs, quality education, and achieve the fundamental objective by making sure that every student has equal opportunities to access higher education. According to research conducted by Al-Sheridan et al. last year, it pointed out that learning platforms which assure students’ cyber security are more likely to win users' trust and confidence (163). From the collected data from 200 college students, the statistics suggested that students’ willingness will be positively impacted if the cybersecurity procedures are implemented in the learning system (161-3).
Photo source: Mr. Yi-Zhen Lan and Mr. Bai-Li Chen signed the MOU
Photo source: Interviewing students about issue on cybersecurity
In order to prove this result, 5 students on FJCU campus had been interviewed randomly about one month after the MOU signing ceremony. However, among all the interviewed students, only one student had noticed the news but had no idea about what and how FJCU would take procedures to improve the information security on the campus. On the other hand, while asking them about their willingness to use learning platforms with found security precautions implemented, the students’ answers were mostly negative.
From students’ perspectives, whether or not the school adopting a security system in the website does not influence their use frequency. It is inevitable for the students to access vital information through the school websites, and it is the school’s responsibility to ensure their privacy and data security online. Among the five students, three of whom further indicated that only when there is a totally new website which strongly emphasizes security measurements, then they will be interested in examining how the website is different from those dedicating less on security.
It is also worth mentioning that earlier on September 10th, 2024, a similar contract was signed in the United Kingdom as well. The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) and National Cyber Crime Unit (NCA) in the UK had signed the MOU to ensure the resilience of cyber security in the society. During the past few years, the world has been experiencing an unprecedented attack by the Covid-19 pandemic. Owing to the quarantine restrictions, a lot of activities and works can only be done online, which significantly increased the frequency of people reaching the Internet. It was the time that the cybercrime started to go viral by stealing personal information for illegal activities. Therefore, the UK signed this MOU so as to show their resolution on improving the cyber security issue by offering information and guidance for their residents. By collaborating with NCA, professional insights could be implemented in the cyber security system of the UK and guarantee every resident’s safety on the Internet. Similar to the UK government, FJCU also had the same goal to protect everyone’s safety on the campus, not only on the physical campus but online as well. Therefore, the MOU signed in the UK successfully protected residence safety online and raised awareness around the country, which set a monument for FJCU to learn from.
In conclusion, although the MOU between FJCU and MJIB does not raise enough awareness among students as the UK government, it still marked a significant step in enhancing cybersecurity measures for both the university and its affiliated hospital. This partnership aims to protect personal information from hackers and sustains online safety for students and faculties. However, to further reach the goal of quality education, it is imperative for FJCU to conduct effective implementation and transparent communication commitment to realize the full potential of this collaboration.
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